President Rodrigo Duterte has yet to name the new Philippine National Police chief, months after Oscar Albayalde stepped down from his post.

The STAR/Michael Varcas

Duterte tells Año to lead, fix PNP

(Philstar.com) - December 30, 2019 - 4:54pm

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte asked Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año to fix the Philippine National Police while its chief post remains vacant.

In a speech during his visit to earthquake-affected evacuees of Cotabato on Monday, Duterte said police in provinces are “okay” but Manila cops are different “that’s why I did not appoint a PNP [chief].”

“I told General Año to lead it first,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

The PNP is under the DILG.

Duterte said he tasked Año, a former military man, “to fix the police so that by the time we make the exit, two years from now, at least the problems of the Filipino people will not be that that heavy.”

The chief executive has yet to appoint a replacement to the top cop post after former PNP chief Oscar Albayalde stepped down from his position days ahead of his retirement.

Before leaving his post, Albayalde was embroiled in controversy over his supposed links to the so-called “ninja cops” or erring policemen who resold the shabu seized in a raid in Pampanga in 2013.

“The growing global backlash against China’s involvement in both the COVID-19 pandemic and Hong Kong political crisis is fueling a new brand of ‘wolf warrior’ diplomacy in Beijing aptly named after a nationalistic Chinese action movie.